Now observe. Look into my magic-lantern. What figures do
you see? A priest with a pick; after him a peasant with a spade; and
behind them a woman with a hatchet: the priest holds a corpse by the
hair; the peasant, with one blow, strikes off its head; then, all things
being carefully rearranged, priest, peasant, and woman, after thrusting
the head into a sack, return as they came. Attention now, for I change
the picture. What figures are these that now appear? A kitchen; a fire
that has not its superior, even in the Inferno; and a caldron, where the
hissing and boiling water sends up its bubbles. Look about and what do
you see? Enter the priest, the peasant, and the housewife, and in a
moment empty a sack into the caldron. Lo! a head rolls out, dives into
the water, and floats to the surface, now showing its nape and now its
face. The Lord help us! It is an abominable spectacle; this poor head,
with its ashy, open lips, seems to say, Give me again my Christian
burial! That is enough. Only take note that in Tuscany, in the beautiful
middle of the nineteenth century, a sepulchre was violated, and a
sacrilege committed, to obtain from the boiled head of a corpse good
numbers to play in the lottery! And, by way of corollary, add this to
your note, that in Rome, _Caput Mundi_, and in Tuscany, Garden of Italy,
it is prohibited, under the severest penalties, to play at _Faro_,
_Zecchinetto_, _Banco-Fallito_, _Rossa e Nera_, and other similar games
at cards, where each party may lose the whole or half the stakes, while
the government encourage the play of the Lottery, by which, out of one
hundred and twenty chances of winning, eighty are reserved for the bank,
and forty or so allowed to the player.
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